College lacrosse preview: Dominican, Hee have something to prove after settling for runner-up status a year ago

Last year was setting up to be a banner season for the Dominican University men's lacrosse team. The high-flying Penguins finished 7-6 in their third year as an NCAA Division II program, landing in a first-place tie with Colorado Mesa at season's end. But due to a technicality in the tie-breaking process, the Penguins lost out on their first Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association championship and Colorado Mesa got the rings. Literally.

But Dominican may have come away with something even more valuable, renewed motivation.

The title came down to a goals-against average in WILA play that didn't land in the Penguins' favor. Dominican, the team that led all D-II offenses in man-up scoring with 1.69 man-up-goals per game, and scored an association-best 11.31 goals a contest, will need relief from its defense if the 2013 season is to end triumphantly.

That responsibility will fall largely on the shoulders of Penguins senior defensemen, and 2009 Novato High grad, Tai Sing Hee.

"I really think our success is going to come down to the defensive end of the field," said head coach Ned Webster, in his eighth season at the post. "I think we're going to score goals, it's up to those guys to stop the other team from scoring. "... We're expecting (Tai) to lead."

This will be Hee's final season with Dominican, and his last chance to etch something special into the young program's still budding history. That opportunity to leave an indelible impression on a relative clean veneer was one reason why Hee elected to stay close to home and help build a new program, rather than play for a more established one.

"I liked the idea of starting a new program and building something from the ground up," said Hee, admitting the North Bay weather played a part in keeping him from heading to more established teams back east. "I thought it was appealing, and I wanted to see how far it would go. So far so good. It's kind of taken off."

Hee, a defensive end on the 2007 Novato football team that won the North Coast Section title, has yet to truly take off himself. But the potential is there, and has been since Day One, said Webster.

"Ever since his freshman year, we'd be playing teams "... and the opposing coaches were like 'That No. 22 is quite the athlete,'" Webster said. "There's no denying it. You watch him fly all over the field, and he's fast and he's tough. I think for Tai to really reach his potential it comes down to consistency. "... Doing everything that's being asked of him, and getting to the point where he's asking others to do the same.

"He really has had a great fall and great preseason, and he's a playmaker for us at the defensive end."

"I think for us, the whole thing is even though we've won a lot of games, we haven't really beat anybody that we're not supposed to beat," Beall said. "We haven't taken that next step."

The WILA champion doesn't receive an automatic bid into the NCAA championships. So the Penguins' goals are more qualitative than quantitative. Cracking the top 10 in the nation would be a boon to their postseason bids, and continue their upward trend. Last year's team was named the most improved in the country at the D-II level by the independent website LaxPower.com.

This year's team will rely on a varied cast, including two freshman All-Americans attackers — Grant Clifford and Cody Bernstein. Dominican returns WILA first-team all-league attacker in Jake Fritz, and an offensive catalyst in Novato's Dalton Copeland, whose 21 goals off the bench in 2012 were third most on the team. Junior Sean Donohue will likely return to his role as the team's starting goalie.

"Kids are buying into this system and we're executing, and kids are working hard. I think this season will really show us where we're at, just like last year when we played three top-10 teams and we were hanging with all three," Webster said. "We didn't win, but I think it kind of showed us what we need to improve on, and I think we've addressed those this fall, and over the past few weeks of the preseason. Time will tell."

Collectively, the team eyes revenge for a title lost. But for Hee, and presumably others, it's the rings worn by the team from Grand Junction, Colo., that might help Dominican raise a banner this spring.

"That whole technicality deal on the championship was kind of tough on all of us, and it didn't help that they went out and bought championship rings," Hee said. "We thought that was kind of a joke. It ticked us off.

"Honestly we want to beat them outright this year and leave no question who's the best team in the conference. That's our first, most clear and most realistic goal."